Skip to content

Here Be Dragons

The Dragons of Wainhouse Tower Children's Book

The Author and Illustrator

CLIENT:
143 Tales Publishing

PROJECT:
The Dragons of Wainhouse Tower
Children’s Book.

BRIEF:

Suggest suitable print specification, oversee artwork and final book production.

BACKGROUND:

The author, Sarah Stone, made up a bedtime story to tell to her son when he was a baby. She used to whisper it into his ear at night to make him go to sleep.

Sarah decided to write the story down in a notebook with the intention of making it into a book which she could give to her son and family members as a keepsake.

A few years later, Sarah asked her close friend, Sue Cordingley (a local artist), if she could create some illustrations which would accompany the text.

In October 2019, the client contacted Creative Consortium to find out the best way of getting a small quantity of professional looking books produced at a reasonable cost, to fulfil her wish of creating a future keepsake.

Solution:

Following an initial consultation, the specification for the book was formalised.

This had to take into account the fact that the book needed to be easy for a child to read and robust enough to cope with repeated handling.

It was decided the book would be  A4 landscape, using high bulking white cartridge paper for the text pages and heavy uncoated board for the cover. A soft-touch laminate was additionally specified for the outer cover to help prevent scuffing and allow finger marks to be easily wiped off.

For economy, based on the low number of copies (25) required, a high quality digital printing company was chosen (we satisfied ourselves that the printing processes and the technology to be used were of the highest standard). Print-ready artwork was created and checked thoroughly by the client before being supplied to the printer in the required format.

The printing was supervised and turned around within 5 working days.

Results:

The first printing of the book proved to be so popular with Sarah’s family and friends that the client was encouraged to self-publish it under the name of 143 Tales.
An initial batch of 100 books was produced for Easter 2020. These sold out immediately through both the client’s Facebook page and retailers who came on board. This initial run has since been followed by 3 further print runs to satisfy demand and fulfil orders from specialist bookshops.
 
Creative Consortium also created a promotional video to use on social media and the web. The video was based around a local town crier (a fan of the book) who offered to create a cry to promote the project. Shot with Wainhouse Tower as a backdrop, the video was directed and edited by Creative Consortium. 
A tale about the kindness of mythical creatures living in a Halifax landmark has captured the hearts of children and adults
Catherine Turnbull
Yorkshire Living Magazine
Before opening this book,
I was impressed by the
professional look
and feel of it
Graham Townsend
From The Horse’s Mouth
I can see why everyone
loves the book - and the promo video made me chuckle
Hayle O’Keefe
Content Editor, The Bucks Herald
This is a beautiful book
filled with kindness
and friendship
Joanne Lyel
English teacher and writer
Creative Consortium
was responsible for creating, sourcing and project managing:
  1. Technical specification
  2. Methodology of production
  3. Print
  4. Basic PR
  5. Video production